


Umbrella

by Amethystfairy1



Series: Amethyst's ABO Universe {With Friends!}! [11]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alpha Prussia (Hetalia), Alpha Spain (Hetalia), Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - Human, Cell Phones, Coffee Shops, Getting Back Together, Heartache, Heartbreak, M/M, Omega Romania (Hetalia), Rain, Texting, Umbrellas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 11:01:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27350065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amethystfairy1/pseuds/Amethystfairy1
Summary: It could be said that love is a long, winding road. Countless flames can ignite and be extinguished, pounded into nothingness by the swelling thunderclouds that can wash even the strongest feelings away. Considering how people always look down on teenage romance, it's no surprise that youth tends to be equal to naivety.So what could anyone know at eighteen? Something they should know far better at twenty-three, or thirty-eight, or fifty?It didn't really matter, because on this winding road, sometimes paths can cross more than once.And sometimes those sputtering flames can be rescued by the cover of an umbrella.{In which Gilbert and Valentin are relatively sure they're over each other, and four and half years should really be long enough to bury the heartache and move on with their lives, but somehow that doesn't seem to be the case. Gilbert is listless and bad at communicating, and Valentin is sure that, teenager though he was, he'd known since he was fifteen exactly what love was, and how it felt to have it ripped away.}
Relationships: Prussia/Romania (Hetalia)
Series: Amethyst's ABO Universe {With Friends!}! [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/813879
Comments: 3
Kudos: 3





	Umbrella

**Author's Note:**

> I felt like writing something romantic and this popped out. I haven't written fresh stuff for Hetalia in ages, so this was actually pretty fun. I know Vladimir is the typical human name used for Romania, but eons ago when I was reading Hetalia fanfic for the first time, the first name I saw used for him was actually Valentin, and I've always used it since. I dunno, I just think it's a cool name. 
> 
> With that out of the way, please enjoy~

The rain was coming down in torrents as Valentin arrived at the bottom of the skyscraper the newspaper owned. A sigh brushed from his lips, and he turned his gaze to the crashing water that seemed to be laughing at his commute.

Getting a good job out of college was tough. He was grateful he’d scored a journalism gig at the city newspaper. It didn’t pay a ton, but it was a stepping stone sort of job. It paid much better than any other kind of starter position, that was for sure.

His walk home was usually a pleasant one. Fifteen minutes through the safest area of bustling downtown would bring him to his apartment. That was another boon of this position; it was shockingly sexism free and located in a nice part of town.

What more could a twenty-three-year-old omega ask for?

So he popped open his umbrella, positioning it to shield him as best he could, and made a break for it.

He walked quickly, rain boots splashing in the puddles, his business casual black skirt beginning to bud with droplets that dodged the umbrellas defense.

As he walked, he let his eyes wander the street as he often did and found his gaze trailing to a coffee shop he’d stopped by once or twice.

_It’s Friday…I have time._

He didn’t have anyone waiting at home, so there was no reason not to stop by. The tinkling of the bell was a welcome greeting as he escaped the November rain. The smell of pumpkin spice and coffee grinds tickled his nose, and he closed his umbrella and deposited it into the holder by the door.

“Welcome!” The cashier greeted, smiling.

Valentin subtly studied him as he took his order, letting his mind wander as he exchanged his cash and took his change, then made his way to a chair.

A few minutes had him sipping his coffee in an armchair by the window, shooting a wayward glance back to the young alphian man on the register.

_He’s cute…well built, broad shoulders, soft eyes, strong jawline…_

Yet he felt none of the accompanying interest that might trail behind such thoughts. They were merely observances, nothing more.

That was the truth.

Because looking into those green eyes of the cashier, all he saw was red.

_Scarlet eyes…white hair. Didn’t he tell me once it was albinism? I think so…or maybe he was just screwing with me. I don’t think so; I doubt he could stand to wear contacts that often. Besides, he needs reading glasses because his eyesight is so bad._

He sipped his coffee again, the obligatory pumpkin spice latte he hadn’t had the privilege of enjoying so far this autumn season.

He lowered his gaze to his phone, curiosity itching his fingers until he picked it up and thumbed open the most recent social media tab.

It didn’t take long to find him.

_Gilbert Beilschmidt. Twenty three…single._

He closed the tab immediately after confirming that fact, cursing himself as he remembered he’d checked it only yesterday.

He took a longer gulp from his coffee and looked out the window as the deluge that was beginning to thin.

_He moved away after high school…went to college upstate. I haven’t seen him in four and a half years almost, huh?_

He closed his eyes, resting his lips on the edge of his mug as his mind rewound to senior year of high school.

_At that point, we’d been together, what…two years? Summer after freshman year, he proposed court to me…_

At the thought, he ran his finger over his right hand—a silver band with a ruby red gem set within silver strands.

_…I’m pathetic._

He’d alternated between leaving the ring in a drawer, nearly flushing it down the toilet, and had even considered selling it.

Yet in the end, it was on his finger just as it had been at the start of Sophomore year.

_I wonder…I always thought we were good together. He never made me feel like I was weird because I’m taller than the average omega. He was always such a cheesy romantic. He’d bring me flowers, throw pebbles at my window at midnight and sneak in, kiss me behind the gym after third period…_

As he thought back on his high school romance, he found his mind arriving, as it always did, to the bad part.

The ending.

_…it was senior year. I guess the stress was just getting to us…we were trying to apply to colleges, trying to figure out what to do with our lives. He was a computer guy, I was a writer…we weren’t going to go to the same school after he ended up getting into the technical college upstate. But why did that matter? It was what, a six-hour drive between the two? We could have made it work…we could have made it work._

His eyes burned, and he gulped down the rest of his coffee, his other hand moving to smooth at his skirt to calm himself down.

He wasn’t about to start crying in a coffee shop over an old flame.

His only flame.

_That fight…it was only the first. We never really made up after it because we’d never fought before. Not really. I forget what it was even about. I think I was mad at him for being late to a date or something…and somehow he turned it around to mean I was needy…and then I was telling him to shove it because he was always the one talking over me…it didn’t make sense. We were both stressed…we should have sorted it out then and there, but instead, I stormed off, and we spent the whole night pissed at each other._

Tears were threatening now, and he couldn’t believe he was doing this to himself. To let himself get drowned in such stupid feeling from when he was eighteen was ridiculous. How could he have known what love was back then?

To fall in love?

To fall out of love?

To lose love?

Valentin set his mug in the deposit tray by the door and left without looking back. The rain had slowed to a mist by that time, as he let his feet plod along towards his apartment, keeping his head down to hide his heartbroken face from passersby.

Because that was the core of things

_In the end, we fought so much it ruined anything we’d had before. Gil said, a few weeks before we were moving out to go to college, that we should end it.I didn’t want to. It had been a rough couple of months, yeah, but the years before that had proved we could work past it. But he said that to me with such a blank face. That casual air to him as if he didn’t even care one way or the other. So I just said ‘fine.’ And he turned around and walked off. Like it didn’t even matter. Like it had died for him weeks ago already._

He reached his apartment, unlocking the door and slamming it behind him, tears pooling and plunging down his cheeks.

He slid down the door, pulling his knees up, as his mind was awash with the very same pain he’d felt when he was eighteen.

The pain of a broken heart.

Because maybe young omegas like him were stupid. 

And maybe young alphas like Gil were stupid too.

But while Valentin might not have known a lot of things, he knew one thing for certain.

He’d been in love.

And he’d lost it.

**_The Coffee Shop._ **

“Gil, are you closing?” Antonio asked.

He’d been on register duty all day as Gilbert, his fellow barista, strode out from the back.

“Hm? Oh, yeah, yeah. Thanks for covering for me earlier; that call was important. My little brother’s graduation is coming up, and I’m trying to figure out how to get home for it, so I was talking to my parents about plane tickets.”

“No problem! I’m going to go grab the broom and dustpan from the back. Can you start restocking the sugar?”

“Sure.”

So Antonio headed into the back, and Gilbert walked towards the counter near the window, a box of different sweeteners in hand.

After sorting the sweeteners into the different spots, his gaze wandered to the umbrella stand.

Antonio was returning with the dustpan and broom as Gilbert pulled the umbrella, decorated with a bat motif, from the stand.

“Looks like someone forgot an umbrella.” He commented.

“Oh, I remember that one! One of the customers who came in while you were on the phone left it here. He seemed to be in a hurry when he left, so he must have forgotten about it.” Antonio said, recognizing the umbrella due to its interesting pattern.

“That so? Hey, there’s a phone number on it.” He said, finding a small tag that read ‘If lost, call: XXX-XXX-XXXX’.

“Well, that’s good. Though we _can_ just leave it in lost and found.”

As Gilbert studied the umbrella, he felt something tug in his chest.

The thing had recently been soaked, so any scent of its owner was nearly nonexistent, but for just an instant, Gilbert swore he could catch the smallest hint of smoky cinnamon.

An ache that had never wholly vanished reformed itself and Gilbert shook his head.

“No, I’ll text him. Let him know I could meet him somewhere if he wants to get it from me. The shop is closed this weekend, right?”

“Yeah, I think the boss needs to replace one of the toilets; it’s been busted for too long. She’s gonna redo the bathroom while she’s at it.”

“Makes sense.” Gilbert hummed before putting the umbrella back in the stand.

As he was closing up, he grabbed it again and started his walk home. His apartment wasn’t too far, so he reached it in a matter of minutes.

He unlocked the door, leaving the umbrella on his kitchen table as he went to take a shower.

The hot water poured over his white spikes of hair, pinning them down as he scrubbed shampoo into it.

_I should go to the gym this weekend…I’ve been lazy this week…_

That aching in his chest was still there, throbbing with a desire to be addressed, and as he washed his hair, he had no way to distract his mind from the memories.

_Why did I say that? Why? When he looked like I’d just ripped his heart out?_

The last memory he had of the love of his life was a face with wide eyes and a mouth slightly agape. Cheeks bare of any color and eyes that conveyed such a powerful sense of _hurt_ that Gilbert wanted to go the opposite way.

To go to him, hold him, apologize _over_ and _over_ and _over_ again for saying such a thing.

To say they’d work it out. They’d get through it, even if they’d had a rough patch lately. That he’d put in the effort again. That his omegas texts wouldn’t be ignored anymore. That he’d bring flowers, and whisper sweet nothings, and show up at random during their first semester in college over a long weekend as a surprise.

If only to take that pain away and see him smile again.

_But I didn’t. I left Vali standing there and walked away. And tried not to show how hard I’d ended up crying by the time I turned the corner._

He turned the water off, combing his fingers through his wet hair as he stepped from the shower.

He grabbed a towel and began drying off.

_Ludwig nearly maimed me when I got home and told him. He’s younger than me, but even he could see it. We were just so stressed and pulled apart that I thought it’d be better if it was over. So that I could stop trying to make it better, and flubbing it, and seeing him hurt. So that maybe he’d be smiling somewhere without me._

The thought made him sick, that someone else could bring that smile to Vali’s face.

_Vali…I started calling him that before we were even courting…in freshman year._

Freshman year, he’d met the love of his life in English class. The omega had been enthralled with writing and had told Gilbert multiple times he intended to be a journalist when he grew up.

_When we grew up…are we grown up, now, Vali?_

He didn’t know who he was talking too, as he pulled up his sweatpants and walked shirtless out into his small living room.

The one-bedroom apartment was plenty spacious for him, though, as he flopped onto his couch, a donation from his parents, and picked up his phone.

A sigh of relief breached his lips despite himself.

_Valentin Popescu. Twenty three…single._

Why was it that he checked Valentin’s profiles like this? He hadn’t been in a relationship since Gil, either.

_Does that mean something? No…of course it doesn’t._

While looking at his phone, he recalled the umbrella and stood up. Reaching his table, he flipped over the tag on the umbrella and typed the number into his phone.

His text was a simple one, mainly hoping to prove he wasn’t a weirdo while trying to help out.

**Hi, I work at the coffee shop you came by earlier! Did you leave your umbrella behind? It has bats all over it, and I found your number on the tag.**

He tapped send, and to his surprise, he received a reply in seconds. The umbrellas owner must have been on his phone when he got the text.

**Yes, that’s mine! Thanks for texting me. I can come to the shop tomorrow to get it!**

Gilbert frowned, trying to figure out how to word his next words without sounding like a creep.

**The shop is closed this weekend for repairs on some stuff. I live close by, though, so would you want to meet up somewhere to pick it up?**

_This sounds like I’m trying to pick him up, not the umbrella! I hope he doesn’t think I’m Antonio or someone? Then again, as a fellow alpha I can say Toni is pretty hot…but Lovino might shank someone if I said that._

To his surprise, the text he received was rather cheerful.

**Would you mind? That’d be great! Do you want to meet at the city park gate around ten tomorrow morning?**

Gilbert shrugged. He wasn’t working, and the gym was pretty close to the park. He could drop the umbrella to its rightful owner, and then get a workout in since it was a day off anyway.

**Works for me! I’ll see you there!**

**Great, thanks again!**

Gilbert considered the situation in his head as he thought back. Did Antonio ever mention this guys secondary? What if he was an omega?

_That’d be a hell of a romance, returning his umbrella and kicking things off from there?_

No sooner had the notion crossed his mind did the ache in his heart increase to threaten him.

He put a hand to his chest, to that steady beating that was hammering quicker every moment he thought about long brown hair and piercing eyes. The sharp face that had scared off so many others, but only managed to draw Gil in.

He sighed.

_Nope._

He found himself thinking about things like this a lot. The pain in his chest whenever he thought of Vali, the fact that love still persisted despite the mistakes, despite four and half years of total silence between them.

Shoving the umbrella in his bag, he headed to the fridge to see what he could scrounge together for dinner.

**_The Next Morning._ **

Valentin scrolled through the short conversation between himself and the barista again, before looking up to avoid bumping into anyone as he approached the park.

_That barista yesterday sure is nice, to bother bringing my umbrella over here for me. He said he lives close by, but still. He had brown hair and green eyes, right? Tan too, and pretty tall. How hard could he be to spot?_

He let his gaze wander over the benches that were set up just inside the park gate, and as his eyes passed over the empty planks, seeing as it seemed no one intended to sit around at the front of the park, he saw there was only one person present.

His heart did a painful stuttering, as his eyes widened to confirm the face he saw, seated on the last bench, long legs crossed at the ankle in front of him as he read whatever was on his phone.

_White hair…scarlet eyes…_

The alpha who’d haunted him and left him broken-hearted was sitting there, with that casual expression he’d loved and hated all at once too many times before. Wearing something akin to a tracksuit as if he intended to work out later.

_Gil…Gil…that’s Gil. I’m not dreaming, that’s him. For sure. Why is he here? Does he live here? How did I never know that?_

His mind went over the more rational questions before it descended into near hysteria.

_God, what do I do? Should I say something to him? What do I say? ‘hey, how’s it been going since you ripped my heart out?’ Or ‘hey, did you really want us to end?’ Or ‘hey, you’re hot as ever, goddammit, I missed you, you asshole’._

The thudding in his chest only helped increase his panic as he stood there staring, and before he could come up with any sort of plan, Gilbert looked up.

They matched eyes.

For the first time in four and a half years, the broken hearts met again.

**_Gilbert_ **

_No._

It was the first thing to cross his mind as he stared at the figure framed by the iron arch of the park gate.

_No, no, no._

The red hoodie and whitewashed jeans.

_No, no, no._

The sheer impossibility of the situation left Gil without words, unable to accept who he was looking at.

He found himself standing before he even told his legs to do so, taking a few steps forward.

“Vali…” He breathed.

The brunette leaned back from him, suddenly closing up as his face switched from open shock to a jaded glare.

“Why are you here?” He asked, and Gil dodged his eyes, tucking a hand behind his hand.

“I…someone left an umbrella at the coffee shop where I work. I’m here to return it.”

That specific of an answer probably wasn’t what Vali had been looking for. He was probably asking in a broader sense, like what he was doing in the city, but this was the first thing his mind put forth.

“Umbrella?” Vali demanded, seeming incredulous and looking down to see the bat motif umbrella in Gil’s hands.

“That’s mine.” He said.

“I-It is? Oh, I didn’t even…here.” He offered it forward.

_That’s why…why the scent was so familiar…why it reminded me of you._

He didn’t dare say such a thing as that. The smoky cinnamon scent he’d so adored in high school mingled in the air now. It was growing stronger by the second, making it clear Valentin was stressed.

“Thanks…I’ll be going now.” The omega said stiffly, reaching out to snatch the umbrella and turning on his heel.

The glitter of the ring in the morning sun drew Gilbert’s eyes down, and he couldn’t comprehend what he was seeing.

The ring.

The ring he’d worked a part-time job all Summer to save up for, the Summer before Sophomore year.

Vali was still wearing it. He was rejecting any chance at small talk, making to leave immediately, having gotten what he’d come for, but he was still wearing the ring.

Gilbert spoke without thinking. “Wait.”

To his surprise, Valentin did wait. He turned slightly to look back at him, but that cold expression didn’t leave his face.

“What?” He demanded.

Gilbert fisted his hands. “I’m sorry.”

Valentin tilted his eyes slightly, his eyes widening, looking quite disbelieving of what he'd heard.

“Sorry? For what?” He asked, turning towards him a bit more.

“I’m sorry I didn’t try harder. To save us. I’m sorry I let stupid things get to me. I’m sorry I ever said goodbye. I’m sorry I…I…”

“Broke my heart?” Valentin suggested, and yet Gilbert swore he saw a slight softening in his gaze.

“For that…I could never find enough words to apologize.”

It was pretty profound, for a guy who’d gotten a D in English.

Valentin turned all the way back, facing him again with an expression that looked more forlorn than anything else. No real anger permeated his gaze.

“Why did you do it?”

The question was something that had loomed large over Gilbert for four and a half years now.

“I…wanted to see you smile again. And I thought I couldn't make it happen anymore. So I thought it’d be better for both of us it were to just…end.”

Valentin crossed his arms, umbrella hanging loosely from his fingers.

“…you looked fine with it. You looked like you couldn’t care less when you ended things.”

Gilbert gave a soft sigh, again dodging eye contact. “I…sat on the sidewalk crying around the corner from your house for an hour afterward…as soon as I was sure you couldn’t see me anymore.”

Valentin seemed to go still after that, worrying at his bottom lip just like he _always_ did when he was nervous.

Gilbert remembered that.

“You’re…so beautiful.” Gilbert wasn’t sure what possessed him to say such a thing, especially after all that had happened, but he did. He blurted it out with much the same grace he’d had when he said it on the walk home a few weeks after they’d started courting.

Vali’s eyes widened spectacularly, and Gilbert braced himself for a harsh dismissal after daring to say something so monumentally stupid.

“You’re…ridiculous. You know that?”

The words came almost playfully, and when he looked up there was the barest glimmer of a smile on Vali’s face.

It was such a shock to see, to see him tempting fate to tease those lips upwards, that Gilbert broke into stammering.

“I-I-I I just…I don’t…I mean it’s _true_ so…”

Vali didn’t move from where he seemed rather rooted to the spot when he spoke again. “You…haven’t seen anybody, huh?”

“No…you haven’t either?”

“No.”

“Why is that?” It was Gilbert’s turn to ask a looming question, and Valentin lowered his eyes slightly, that glimmer fading away.

“…it’s pathetic, Gil. How we ended up. I can’t see anyone without thinking about you. And you know what? I wish I hadn’t just said that. But hell, it’s the truth.”

Gilbert could hardly believe that to be a fact.

That Valentin would say that whenever he saw an upper who might be interesting, the only thing that came to his mind was _Gil._

_Those feelings…are still there?_

They were, as sure as the ring still on the omegas finger.

**_Valentin._ **

_He’s the same._

It was never like Gil to be suave. He’d always been rather forward and had no issue being brash, but if something affronted him he’d certainly struggle to spit it out.

That was what he was seeing now.

Gilbert was dodging his eyes and stammering like a high schooler with a crush.

_Which, honestly…is what I’ve always seen him as._

He’d always wondered what life would be like if he were still with his high school sweet-heart.

If things would be better. If he’d be less lonely. If he’d be waking up to banging pots and pans in the kitchen, to air guitar in the living room, if he’d already be mated by now.

To him. To Gil. To the one who’d taken his heart and run away with it.

If after all the years went by, he’d still see a fifteen-year-old boy stuttering through a courtship proposal with a ring he’d worked all Summer to earn the money to buy.

Valentin fisted his hand a bit, feeling the pressure of that ring on his finger, and found himself caving.

“Gil…what do you want me to say? After apologies, someone usually either rejects or accepts them.”

Gilbert watched him with those piercing red eyes. “I want you to answer me however you feel. It’s not like it means anything…I mean…”

That pregnant pause was like a small infinity.

“…unless you want it too.”

Valentin felt whatever mental train he’d had going slam on the brakes. His heart began pounding again even though he’d only just gotten it down to a manageable speed.

Valentin couldn’t manage the words as he fumbled them out of his mouth.

“Want it too? Want it to mean _what?_ Friends? More? Hate? Love? Do you have clue how much you’ve torn me up over all these years?”

“I’m sorry.” Gilbert didn’t even try to defend himself.

“I’m sorry for every time I’ve made you cry. All I ever wanted was to make you happy…but I failed even trying to do that.”

Valentin fumed. “You _didn’t!_ Don’t you get it, you idiot? I was _always_ happy, even when I was mad, I was happy. Because I loved you…I knew I loved you.”

Valentin felt that pull, that irresistible draw forward just like he’d felt in the summer before Sophomore year.

He took a few steps forward, closing the distance between them from feet to inches.

“You only failed when you tried to make everything go away.”

Gilbert was now the one leaning back, clearly unsure of what to make of Valentin’s sudden forwardness.

Vali normally wouldn’t react like this, but under such circumstances he found this brazen will to grasp what he wanted bolstering him.

“I can never make up for that.”

It was a second of chaos reigning within Valentin’s mind as he bounced emotions around like pinballs and tried to fathom just what he was thinking.

Yet it was only a second of hesitation, nothing more.

Valentin remembered his first kiss.

He’d been fifteen, and it’d been Gil’s.

Behind the gym after third period.

Sloppy, and messy, and rather obviously awkward in a sense that they’d both never had one before.

They’d gotten practice, though. Over two years until they slotted together so perfectly they were like the missing pieces of each other.

That perfection hadn’t gone away.

They gave into each other in a kiss short enough to last only a handful of heartbeats.

Lips brushing together, pressing into each other, and then pulling apart.

When it stopped, Valentin had somehow wound up having one of Gil’s arms about his waist.

They started at each other rather blankly, like neither could believe what was happening.

“You can make up for it…but you’d better start now.” It’d come across far more sultry than Valentin had intended, and it was only a moment before the shift from Gilbert’s nervous stammering to a slow build of confidence began.

“You…mean it?” He asked.

They were still in a public park, so this little embrace was as far as things could go for the moment, but nonetheless, Valentin replied.

“I do.”

And they met again, another short, sweet kiss.

“Will you allow me to court you again?” Gilbert asked.

“I don’t get another gift?” Valentin asked teasingly.

“You still have the old one.” Gilbert pointed out, grasping Vali’s right hand and thumbing over the ring.

“I feel like I’m getting shorted.” 

“Then I’ll manage something.”

How they were so comfortable after only a few minutes together might be proof of all they’d had before, and even as Gilbert resumed his stammering to suggest going somewhere else, and Valentin was pretty quick to offer up his apartment, there was only one thing on his mind.

_I’m so glad I forgot my umbrella._

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it! I may or may not write a short little follow up with them rebuilding their relationship, but I'm not sure yet. I just really enjoyed writing both of their feelings towards each other despite the years and the shell-shock of them randomly seeing each other again because of an umbrella of all things. Please drop a comment down below if you liked it! Thanks for reading!


End file.
